


go slow be sure

by andersens



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Not Hockey Player(s), M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-01 03:26:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15134045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andersens/pseuds/andersens
Summary: Zach pushes open the door to the coffee shop where he’s supposed to be meeting his new illustrator and steps inside. He takes a few seconds to just look around at the place, soaking in the details. It’s a relatively small place. And the vibe of it is so incredibly cozy. There are couches and big cushiony chairs around the edges of the place and more traditional tables in the center. It smells like coffee and freshly baked bread and pastries and Zach literally wants to live in this place. He now understands completely why his illustrator was so adamant that they meet here.





	go slow be sure

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [forks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/forks/pseuds/forks) in the [PuckingRare2018](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/PuckingRare2018) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> There's a new illustrator assigned to Zach's latest book -- William Nylander. Zach isn't sure how he's supposed to focus on any work now. 
> 
> (either a non-hockey AU, or Zach's Still A Hockey Player but Willy isn't, would both be awesome.)
> 
> \--- 
> 
> I went with Zach's still a hockey player, but Willy isn't. 
> 
> Also, one quick thing I want to make very clear, Zach is self deprecating at times in this fic, and I want to say this is not at all reflective of the thoughts of me, the author. I absolutely adore Zach Hyman and think he is an excellent hockey player and an important part of the Leafs lineup. This was just a character choice I made for him because I think it’s probably very hard to see so many people every day saying you suck and not take some of it to heart. 
> 
> Warnings: There are some discussions of homophobia. I made the homophobia level in the NHL milder than I’m sure it actually is because I deal with homophobia enough in real life and like to escape it as much as possible in fic. But I didn't want to erase it completely so Zach and Willy both discuss homophobia/biphobia a couple of different times.
> 
> And lastly if you or anyone you know is in this fic please turn away now, and also I made all of this up. It's not real.

Zach pushes open the door to the coffee shop where he’s supposed to be meeting his new illustrator and steps inside. He takes a few seconds to just look around at the place, soaking in the details. It’s a relatively small place. And the vibe of it is so incredibly cozy. There are couches and big cushiony chairs around the edges of the place and more traditional tables in the center. It smells like coffee and freshly baked bread and pastries and Zach literally wants to live in this place. He now understands completely why his illustrator was so adamant that they meet here. 

The place isn’t very crowded at the moment. There’s a group of what looks like students piled onto some of the couches, books open in front of them while they pass around notecards. But other than that group and the workers there’s only one other person. A blond man sitting at one of the tables, hunched over a sketchpad. Zach takes an educated guess that that’s his illustrator and heads that way. 

“William Nylander?” he asks, stopping by the table. 

The man, William, looks up shaking his hair out of his bright blue eyes, and Zach feels his breath catch in his throat. William is hot, like, stop you in your tracks kind of hot.

William smiles at him and sticks out his hand. “Yeah,” he says. “You can call me Willy, though.” 

Zach swallows, trying to pull himself together, and says, “Oh, cool, I’m Zach, by the way.” 

Willy grins up at him, his smile mischievous and his blue eyes shining, and Zach is so so fucked. God, he’s, like, exactly Zach’s type. How is he supposed to handle this? 

“Are you going to get any coffee?” Willy asks. 

“Oh, uh, yeah,” Zach says, realizing he’s been staring, and forcing his gaze over towards the counter instead. “Do you want anything?” 

When he looks back to the table Willy’s smile has turned into more of a smirk and he points at his full cup of coffee. “I’m good,” he says. 

“Right,” Zach says, and he hurries off toward the counter before he can embarrass himself any further. 

He orders a plain black coffee and a scone from the barista taking the break from Willy to try and calm himself down. So Willy’s hot? So fucking what? Zach’s around hot people all the time. He can handle this. He grabs his order from the barista when they call his name and then takes a deep breath before heading back to the table Willy is at. 

He sits down and Willy closes his sketchpad. “Sorry,” he says, “I’m just so used to drawing while I’m here.” 

“No, that’s totally okay,” Zach says. He takes a sip of his coffee and barely manages to hold in a groan. “Holy shit that’s good.” 

“Right?” Willy says. “I’m obsessed.” He grins at Zach and Zach can’t help his own answering grin. 

“So,” Zach says, after a pause. “What were you wanting to talk about today?” 

“I just kind of wanted to talk about your book a little. I’ve read it obviously but I wanted to kind of pick your brain about it some, I guess, before I start the illustrations.” 

“Okay, so I don’t know how much you know about hockey, but I actually play, like professionally.” 

“Um, duh,” Willy says, rolling his eyes. “I know who you are.” 

“You do?” Zach asks. “Sorry, I don’t like to just assume.”

“Well, I’m a huge Leafs fan,” Willy says. “Like pretty much everyone else in this city. But also, my dad was in the NHL and my brother is currently in the AHL. So, yeah, I know quite a bit about hockey.” 

Zach thinks for a moment before it hits him. “Ooooh, right, okay, yeah. He’s on the Amerks. He’s pretty good.” 

“I was better,” Willy says, flashing Zach a cocky grin. 

“Oh yeah?” he asks. “So, why don’t you play still?” 

Willy shrugs and says, “I don’t know. Just felt like going another way. Following a different passion, you know?” He’s trying too hard to look casual about it, and Zach guesses that’s probably not the full story, but he’s also not one to pry so he changes the subject. 

“Well, since you’re a fan of the Leafs you should come to our game tonight. I’ll leave you tickets at will call.” 

“You don’t have to do that,” Willy says. 

“Please, I want to,” Zach says. “You can meet the team afterwards. They’d love it. Any opportunity to tease me for being a children’s book author.” 

Willy laughs and says, “Well, okay then. I’d love to come.” 

Zach grins at him and says, “Good.” 

Willy grins back, and then after a moment, “So, tell me about the book.” 

“Okay, so it’s about a hockey player who is afraid he won’t be able to keep playing because he’s different from a lot of his teammates. But his teammates end up embracing him. It’s pretty autobiographical actually. I don’t know how much you know about me specifically, but I’m openly bi and I’m Jewish. 

Willy nods, and Zach continues, “So, I’ve faced a lot of biphobia and antisemitism on the ice and it didn’t always make me feel completely wanted in this sport. And I just wanted to write something encouraging for other kids who might feel the same way.” 

“Cool,” Willy says. “Yeah, that’s really good. And I think you did a really good job of that with this book. I’m really excited to be working on it.” 

Zach grins, happy to hear that and happy to be working with someone else who is as excited about the book as he is. 

“So,” Willy says. “I know illustrators usually work separately and don’t really contact the author so you’re probably wondering why I reached out.” 

“Yeah, a little,” Zach admits. 

“Yeah,” Willy says, “I just knew after I read your story that it was something really personal and important to you. And I just wanted you to feel like it’s in good hands. So, anyway the first thing I’m going to do is come up with character sketches and it’ll take me a little while, but since this story is so personal to you I’d really like you to approve them. So, I thought we could meet up again when I’m done with them. 

“Yeah,” Zach says. “I’ve checked out some of your previous work and I’m in love with all of it. So, I’m sure I’ll love whatever you come up with but I’d love to see it when you’re ready.” 

“Okay, awesome,” Willy says, and then, “So, I’ve got to run, but I’ll text you or whatever when they’re ready and we can meet up again.” 

“Sounds good, and I’ll see you at the game tonight, right?” 

“Yeah, I’ll be there,” Willy says. “Thanks again for the ticket.” 

***

Zach's not sure Willy is actually going to show up at the game. So when he sees him hanging out by the glass during warmups he's pleasantly surprised. And he's even happier to see that Willy is wearing Zach's jersey. That's definitely a visual he'll be revisiting later when he's alone. 

He does his usual warm up routine, passing back and forth with Mitch and Auston and taking shots on Freddie and Mac. But then when everyone splits up to start doing their own thing he skates over by where Willy is. He bumps his shoulder into the glass in front of him to acknowledge him without drawing too much attention to it in case that's attention Willy doesn't want. 

Then he spends the rest of warm ups just hanging out over there, working on puck handling and talking with some of his teammates, as they skate by. When the horn sounds to indicate warm ups are over he shoots a quick grin over his shoulder at Willy and heads off the ice. 

During the game itself he tries not to let Willy's presence distract him. The team has high expectations this season and he knows a lot of those expectations rest squarely on the shoulders of him and his linemates. 

He works hard, battling for pucks and digging in as much as possible while he's on the ice. And discussing strategy with Auston, Mitch and sometimes Babs when he's off the ice. 

They end up winning the game but it's a battle right to the end. He's proud of the way his entire line played though. They got a pretty clutch goal in the third period and Zach is still riding high on that feeling when the final horn sounds. 

When he gets to the dressing room, the first thing he does is text Willy so that he doesn't leave. "Hey, hang out at your seat and when it clears out in there I'll pop in and get you and bring you down here." 

He gets a thumbs up emoji back and then he gets to work undressing. He needs to be fast so that he can go get Willy before everyone starts heading out. He lets the familiar locker room sounds wash over him, the celebrations and the laughter and music, as he takes off all of his gear, and then heads for the shower. He's the first one in there and he cleans off as quick as he can and then heads back into the room, getting his game day suit back on as fast as possible. 

By the time he gets out to the arena it's pretty much cleared out so it's easy for him to find Willy. 

"Hey," he says, touching his elbow to get his attention. 

"Hey," Willy says, smiling up at him and jumping to his feet. He knocks his hip against Zach's and says, "Good game, man. You guys were awesome." 

"Thanks," Zach says. "You ready to meet everyone?" 

"I guess," Willy says, “I'm, like, weirdly nervous though." 

"Don't be. They're all secretly huge dorks and they're going to love you." 

He starts heading back to the dressing room, Willy falling into step behind him. "You didn't have to buy my jersey, by the way. I would have gotten you one." 

Willy chuckles behind him and says, "I, uh, actually already owned it. I got it a while ago. Sorry if that's, like, weird for you." 

"Definitely not weird," Zach says, a blush creeping up his neck and onto his cheeks. "It's really nice to hear actually." 

They walk in silence the rest of the way, but it's a comfortable one. And when he enters the dressing room he's happy to see the media has all cleared out, but most of the team is still lingering. 

Zach clears his throat to gather everyone's attention and then he says, "Hey guys, so you know how I'm working on a new book? This is my illustrator for it, William Nylander." 

Willy waves from beside Zach, and most everyone waves back, looking over in at least mild interest. The two most eager to meet him though are predictably Auston and Mitch. They're always way too invested in Zach's personal life. And they both hop up and rush over as soon as Zach is done speaking. 

"Hey," Mitch says. "Mitch Marner." 

"Auston," Auston says. 

"Willy," Willy replies, nodding at them and accepting their high fives. "You guys were great tonight," Willy says. 

"Thanks," Mitch says. "It's all due to Zachy here though," he adds throwing his arm around Zach's shoulder and patting Zach’s chest with his other hand. 

And Zach knows he's just saying it because he's trying to wingman for him, because of course Mitch has already zeroed in on the fact Willy is exactly Zach's type. But it's still nice to hear.

And then, “Oh yeah, I know,” Willy says. “I used to play so I know that goal you guys scored doesn’t happen without him.” 

And that, that’s even nicer to hear. Zach can feel a blush creeping onto his cheeks and he says, “Shut up. It was just as much due to Auston as it was to me.” 

“He’s always so modest,” Auston says, throwing an arm around Zach’s shoulder from the other side. “But, hey, so we’re all about to go out and celebrate. You wanna come, Willy?” 

“Yeah, sure if you guys are cool with me tagging along.” 

“Yeah, we gotta vet you and make sure you’re good enough to be working with Hyms,” Mitch says. 

“You guys are sooo embarrassing,” Zach says, shrugging out from under their arms and shoving at Mitch. “But yeah, Willy, you’re more than welcome to come.” 

***

Twenty minutes later, Zach is squeezed into a booth at the back of a dingy bar with Willy beside him and Mitch and Auston across from them. The bar they’re at is one of the team’s favorite places to hang out, because they rarely get recognized there. It’s so dark it’s hard to really see anyone at the other tables. 

“So,” Mitch says, taking a sip from his drink. “Tell us about yourself, Willy.”

Willy laughs and grins his sneaky little smile. “What do you want to know?” 

“Where are you from?” Auston asks. 

“It’s a little complicated,” Willy says. “I’m from Sweden, really. But I was born in Calgary and then lived all over the US.” 

“Oh, wow, Mitch says. “Why’d you move so much?”

“My dad played in the NHL actually.” 

“Oh, wait, yeah okay. Michael Nylander,” Mitch says. “So, then your brother is Alex, right? Okay, cool, yeah.” 

“You didn’t want to play?” Auston asks. 

Willy takes a drink seemingly thinking about how to answer. “I did play for a while. But I just thought art was a better career path for me.” 

“And you’re a good artist, right? Like you’re going to do a good job for him?” 

Zach kicks him under the table and says, “Auston, don’t be fucking rude.” 

Willy just laughs though and says, “No, it’s a fair question. Your friends know this is important to you. And to answer the question, yeah I’m pretty good.” 

“He’s amazing,” Zach says. 

Mitch and Auston share a knowing look and Zach flushes red and takes another sip from his drink. 

“So, who’s your favorite hockey player right now?” Auston asks. 

Zach fixes him with a look and Auston shrugs and says, “What? It’s a valid question. You can tell a lot about a person by who their favorite player is.” 

Willy deliberates for a second and then he says, “I gotta say my brother. I know he’s not even in the NHL right now, but he has ridiculous amounts of potential. His hands are so good and his skating. And he’s a great passer. He’s gonna be really good once injuries stop getting in his way.” 

“Aw,” Mitch says, “That’s so cute.” He reaches across the table to ruffle Willy’s hair. Because that’s how Mitch is. He’s never heard of personal space in his life. 

Willy takes it in stride though, just laughing and shaking his head. “Uh, thanks. I guess.” 

Mitch laughs too and then he says, “I need another drink. Matts, come with me?” 

Auston nods, and they both get up before Zach can even really process what’s happening, and then it’s just him and Willy.

There’s a lull in the conversation but then before it can get awkward Zach asks, ”So how long have you owned my jersey?" turning on the bench they’re sitting on so that he’s facing Willy now that it’s just the two of them. 

"Oh, uh, since your rookie year actually," Willy answers. His cheeks are flushed, probably from the alcohol, and he grins over at Zach before looking back down at the table. 

"Okay, I'm calling bullshit on that. The only people who owned my jersey all the way back then were like...my parents." 

Willy rolls his eyes, and turns to look at Zach, "Don't be so self deprecating. Like, okay, sure, you weren't the most popular Leaf before you rocked the hockey world by coming out. But like, tons of people had crushes on you even way back then." 

"I thought we were talking about jersey sales. Not crushes." 

"I mean, yeah, but a lot of times they go hand in hand. Like I mean, I'm not saying having a crush on a player is the reason people like hockey, but it's the reason they buy a player's jersey sometimes. And I know a ton of people who have your jersey because they have a crush on you." 

Zach turns away and shakes his head. "No way, you're lying. Mitch and Naz are the ones everyone has a crush on. I'm...plain at best." 

"I can not believe you're fishing for compliments right now," Willy says. 

"I'm not!" Zach objects. 

"You truly believe that you're plain at best? With that cute little smile? And those eyes? Come on. Plus, I mean you have the whole smart guy thing going for you. That's totally hot." 

"So, what about you then?" Zach asks, feeling suddenly brave. "Did you get my jersey because you had a crush on me." 

Willy rolls his eyes and doesn't answer, but he does flush harder. The flush is definitely interesting and Zach is about to push a little harder, but then Auston and Mitch get back, plopping down in front of them. 

“What did we miss?” Mitch asks. 

“Nothing much,” Willy says, and Zach definitely isn’t going to push in front of them. They’ll never shut up about it. So he lets it drop. 

***

The next morning he wakes up with a text from Willy. “I’m so tired this morning. How do you guys survive staying out late like that all the time?” 

“Lots of naps," Zach sends back. 

"I literally hate you," Willy responds. 

Zach gets a snapchat notification then and when he opens it it's Willy, looking very sleep rumpled and cute. He's laying in bed, shirtless, his hair disheveled, and his eyes mostly closed. There's text over it that says, “I’m literally still asleep right now." 

Zach laughs and then flips over to the camera so he can send one back. He smiles sleepily at the camera, and snaps a picture. Then he types “Why are you even awake this early?” over it and sends it on. 

He lays there for a couple of seconds and then his phone dings with another snapchat notification. He opens it and it’s Willy again, a grumpy pout on his cute face. “I’m traveling to Rochester today to visit my brother.” 

Zach stares at it until it disappears and then he opens their text thread back up. “Have fun,” he sends and then he gets up to start getting ready for practice. 

***

“So,” Mitch says as he and Auston skate up to Zach at practice later. “Willy.” 

“Yeah,” Zach says, “What about him?” 

“You have a crush,” Mitch says, nudging Zach repeatedly in the stomach with his elbow. 

“Shut up,” Zach says, batting Mitch away. “I do not.” 

Auston scoffs. “What was with the googly eyes then?” Auston turns toward Mitch and they lean in close, batting their eyelashes ridiculously and making kissy faces. 

“Oh, Willy, you’re so gorgeous,” Mitch says, in a mocking voice.

“And Zach, you’re so smart and strong and good at hockey,” Auston says, using the same dumb mocking voice. 

Zach rolls his eyes. “Okay, okay,” he says. “If I admit I have a crush will you guys stop?” 

“We’ll think about it,” Auston says. 

“But thanks for confirming the crush,” Mitch adds. “So, when are you going to see him again?” 

“I don’t know,” Zach says. “He said he wants to meet up when he finishes some character sketches.” 

“Okay, good, so definitely run your outfit by me that day,” Auston says. 

“Hey, fuck you,” Zach says shoving at Auston. 

They all burst out laughing and then Zach says, “But I will do that,” which causes all of them to laugh harder. 

Babcock comes out then to get practice started, but Zach and his linemates aren’t participating in the first round of drills so they shuffle over to the bench and sit down. 

“So,” Mitch says. “Are you going to make a move on him?” 

“I don’t know,” Zach says. 

“Why the fuck not?” Auston asks. 

“Because first of all, I don’t even know if he likes guys. And second of all, we are nowhere near being in the same league. He’s in, like, a whole different stratosphere than me.” 

By the time he gets that out it’s their turn for the drill. He hops over the boards with Mitch and Auston and lets himself relax into the familiarity of practice. 

They skate around for a while, firing perfect passes to each other until Auston gets a semi clear shot at the net. He dangles around a defender and fakes a shot, passing across to Mitch at the last second. Mitch buries it into the wide open net, and all of them whoop and holler before skating back to the bench. As soon as they’re back over the boards Mitch picks the conversation back up as though it had never stopped. 

“Okay, first of all,” he says. “I need you to know that you are hot. But second of all, I definitely think he’s into guys. He was totally flirting with you just as much as you were flirting with him.” 

“Come on,” Zach says, “He was not.” 

Auston levels him with a look that very clearly says, ‘stop being stupid’ and then he says, “Uh, do we need to do the impressions again?” 

“Because we will,” Mitch adds. 

“God, please do not.” 

Mitch laughs and says, “Okay, so are you going to ask him out?” 

“I don’t know. We work together. I don’t want to make it weird.” 

“Fair, but it’s not like you’re his boss. I at least think you should ask him when the book is finished.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Zach says. 

***

Zach and Willy keep up their communication for the next couple of weeks. Texting and snapchatting nearly every day. So Zach isn’t surprised when he’s sitting in Mitch and Auston’s hotel room watching movies with them one night and Willy’s name pops up on his screen. 

But he is happily surprised by the content of the message. “The character sketches are ready to be seen. When is good for you?” 

Zach grins at his phone and replies, “We’re out of town for a game right now. But I can meet you the day after tomorrow at around two in the afternoon if that works for you.” 

“Sounds great,” Willy replies. 

When Zach looks up, Auston and Mitch are watching him and he rolls his eyes. “What?” he asks. 

“Nothing,” they say. And then Mitch adds, “Just tell Willy we say hi.” 

Choosing not to respond to that Zach holds up his phone and says, “Say cheese,” snapping a picture of the two of them in snapchat and sending it to Willy with the caption “These two say hi.” 

Willy sends back a picture of himself sticking his tongue out and crossing his eyes that says, “Hi back to them,” and Zach grins and puts his phone away to avoid further chirping. 

***

This time when they meet up Zach beats Willy to the coffee shop. But he doesn’t have to wait long for him. Just a few minutes after Zach gets his coffee ordered and settles in at a table, Willy comes rushing in. He looks unfairly good. His outfit is pretty simple. Just a plain white t-shirt and black skinny jeans, but the fit is incredible. And his hair is windswept but still manages to look ridiculously perfect. Zach knows he’s going to have trouble not staring and making a fool of himself. 

Plus, he did just get done with practice, and he knows that even though he showered he’s not looking his best. So, it’s just really unfair how good Willy constantly looks. 

“Hey, sorry I’m late,” Willy says as he passes by Zach’s table. “I’m just gonna grab a coffee I’ll be right back.” 

“No biggie, I’ve only been here a couple of minutes,” Zach says. 

Willy smiles at him, a sincere one, not one of the sneaky looking ones he does sometimes, and says, “Okay, cool,” before heading to place his order. 

Willy’s back just a few moments later, setting his huge mug of coffee down on the table and then plopping himself into the seat across from Zach. He takes off the backpack he’d been wearing and starts digging around in it and eventually pulls out a laptop. 

He opens it up and types for a moment and then clicks on something and says, “Okay, so I’m really excited about these so I hope you like them, but if not, please please tell me.”

“Okay,” Zach says, leaning forward eagerly.

Willy flips the laptop around and then says, “Okay, so this is the main character,” revealing a drawing of a brown haired young kid from several angles. 

Zach’s grin is instantaneous. “It’s perfect,” he says. 

“Really?” Willy asks. “I wasn’t sure how much you wanted him to look like you because I know you took a lot of your own experiences but I also know it’s not supposed to actually literally be you. So, yeah, I wasn’t sure, but I took a couple of your features but then also made him a little different.” 

“Yeah, no, I love it,” Zach says. “Perfect blend.” 

“Okay, good,” Willy says, smiling as he takes a sip of his coffee. 

He flips the laptop back around then and clicks around some and then says, “Okay, so this is the coach.” 

When he flips it back around there’s a drawing of a grandfatherly looking old man. He’s balding, and a little chubby, with kind eyes, and a small smile.

“I love it,” Zach says. “So much like I pictured him, but like, even better.” 

“And you’re not just saying that, right? Because I really don’t mind taking notes on these and improving them. Like I’ve said I know this is an incredibly personal story to you and I want to make sure it comes out like you want it.” 

“No, really, I appreciate that, but these have been perfect so far.” 

Willy grins again, and they continue like that for a while. Willy pulling up different sketches and Zach loving all of them, but occasionally giving a minor note or two. Then finally once he’s shown him all the character sketches he pulls up a very rough sketch of a scene from the book. “This is the only one I’ve started so far because I was just really inspired but I wanted to make sure you liked it.” Willy says.

“I love it,” Zach says, taking in the drawing. It’s of the scene where the main character scores his first goal. The boy is smiling and shocked looking, his teammates crowding around him. 

“I miss it sometimes,” Willy says, “Hockey, I mean.” His voice is quieter than usual, and Zach gets the sense he’s just become privy to something not a lot of people get to know. “The team atmosphere, the competitiveness, but mostly just the game itself.” 

Zach considers that for a moment and then he says, “I could get us some ice time sometime. If you wanted. We could run some drills or just mess around. Whatever you wanted.” 

“Oh no, that’s okay. You have practices and games all the time I’m sure you don’t want to spend any more time on the ice with me.” 

“If you, like, genuinely don’t want to that’s fine and I totally get it, and I won’t ask again. But if you’re really just saying no because you think that I don’t really want to then please say yes. I promise I don’t mind. I love hockey and I don’t mind spending some more time on the ice with you. It’d be good for me.” 

Willy drags his bottom lip into his mouth, and drops his gaze to the table. He stays like that for a moment and Zach lets him, knowing this might be a tough decision for him. But when he looks back up a few moments later he’s grinning, and Zach grins back at him. “Thank you,” Willy says. “I’d really enjoy that.” 

***

He contacts the people in charge of scheduling ice time at the Mastercard Centre as soon as he gets home. The team is leaving on a road trip soon and he wants to make this happen before then. He gets the okay to use one of the rinks a few hours after their practice the next day and he immediately texts Willy to see if that will work for him. 

“Tomorrow good for you? Around six pm?” Zach sends. 

“Sounds perfect,” Willy replies. And then he sends a heart emoji and a smiley face in a second message and Zach grins stupidly at his phone. 

The next day after practice he just hangs around the Mastercard Centre. He does some writing for a while to pass some of the time. Then when it gets closer to time when Willy should be showing up he heads for one of the the supply closets. He digs around in there until he finds a helmet Willy can use in case he doesn’t have one anymore. They won’t be wearing full gear since it’s not really necessary since they won’t be doing anything too extreme. But Zach doesn’t want to be totally reckless and risk a concussion either. So he is going to insist on both of them wearing helmets. 

He also finds a bucket of pucks and takes them out and puts them on the boards by the bench so he can grab them later once they’re out there. 

Once he’s finishing up with that he gets a text from Willy saying he’s there and he goes out front to meet him and lead him to the locker room to get changed. 

Willy brought his own stick and skates. So once they change and lace up, and get their helmets on, they grab their sticks and head for the ice. 

“When is the last time you went skating?” Zach asks when they get out there.

“I still go skating a lot. I just haven’t played hockey in a while. So my skating is fine. You won’t have to hold my hand or anything.” He pauses while he steps onto the ice, and then he turns around and looks at Zach and says, “Unless you want to.” Then he winks and takes off skating and Zach is left behind, gaping at him. 

Zach takes a moment to pull himself together, and then he steps onto the ice too, skating at a more leisurely pace. He was serious when he said he didn’t mind doing this with Willy. It is, however, the middle of the season and he doesn’t want to wear himself out and he did already have a practice today. 

He drifts around toward the center of the ice, and watches Willy literally skate circles around him for a while so they can both get warmed up. Then he says, “Okay, so, do you want to just, like, have fun? Or do you want to do some drills?” 

“Both,” Willy says, coming to a stop in front of him. “Can we just do some simple passing stuff first. So I can get used to the feel of the puck on my stick again?” 

“Yeah, definitely,” Zach says. “Whatever you want.” He skates over to the boards and grabs a puck out of the bucket he brought with him. Then he skates back over to Willy, and hands over the puck. “You wanna just mess around with it on your stick for a minute first?” 

“Okay,” Willy says, dropping the puck down onto the ice in front of him, and then just dragging it around on his stick. 

He’s definitely a little rusty, and he loses the puck a few times, but Zach can tell he’s got amazing hands. He can’t wait to see what Willy can do when they actually start doing some passing and shooting. 

"You ready to try passing?" Zach asks. 

Willy nods so Zach grabs the puck from him with his own stick and says, "Okay, so let's just pass it back and forth a little first." 

Willy nods again so Zach passes to him and Willy passes back easily. They go back and forth like that for a while and Willy is looking like he's feeling a little more confident now so Zach says, “Okay, you wanna skate while we pass now?" 

"Sounds good," Willy says. They both take off skating, the puck on the end of Zach's stick and after a few strides he passes it off to Willy. It lands on his tape and Willy passes it back easily. It doesn't hit exactly in Zach's sweet spot but it's still a good pass. They go back and forth like that for a while, skating the length of the ice a few times. And the longer they do it the better Willy gets. It was easy to tell he was a little rusty to start the day, but the more they play around with the puck the more comfortable Willy seems. 

And they have great chemistry too. Now that Willy has gotten back in the swing of things most of his passes are landing exactly where Zach wants them to. It's almost like passing with Auston and Mitch. It feels amazing and right and like they both know exactly where the other one is going to be on the ice when the pass is complete. 

"You wanna add in some shooting?" Zach asks after a while. 

“Yeah,” Willy says. So this time when Willy passes, Zach takes the puck and skates forward with it, rushing the net and then shooting. It goes in cleanly and he skates back, grabbing another puck out of the bucket and firing it off towards Willy. Willy grabs it and skates forward, and shoots. It’s a surprisingly good shot, quick and heavy, but it goes wide of the net. 

“Give me another one. I can do better than that,” Willy says. So Zach grabs another puck and skates back to center ice with Willy. He pauses for a moment and then takes off, Willy hot on his heels, and then he passes. It lands cleanly on Willy’s stick and Willy skates right into the slot and snaps a shot into the net. 

Willy does an exaggerated celly, dropping to one knee and pumping his fist and Zach laughs as he grabs another puck and skates in and shoots it off toward the net. This time his shot goes wide. He gathers up another puck and starts skating, waiting for Willy to fall in behind him. 

Willy does and Zach just skates around for a bit, enjoying how freeing and nice it feels to be doing this without purpose or judgement. And without someone screaming at him about what he needs to fix or do better.

He heads for the net again after a while, planning to take another shot, but at the last moment he whips around and passes the puck off to Willy. He doesn’t even really think about it. It just feels like the right thing to do and he’s not really surprised when Willy catches the pass easily. He is, however, a little surprised when Willy immediately fires off a shot that flies perfectly into the net. 

“Fuck yeah, man!” Zach yells, turning around just in time for Willy to crash into him. He catches Willy easily and they both glide into the boards. 

“That was amazing,” Willy shouts, his visor tapping against Zach’s. Their mouths are centimeters apart and Zach has never wanted to kiss someone so badly in his life. Willy’s grinning wildly at him as he slips back down Zach’s body so his skates touch the ice again. Zach rubs his hand over Willy’s helmet to keep himself from doing something stupid like leaning forward and kissing him. And Willy grins even wider at him before skating off. 

***

Zach leads them back to the locker room a little while later when they’re both too worn out and sweaty to keep going. 

"Thanks for that," Willy says. "It was fun. It felt good to be back out there on the ice like that." 

"Yeah, no problem. You really are super talented, you know? I mean, I'm sorry I don't want to sound like I'm telling you that you made the wrong decision by quitting or anything. I just. I really am impressed by your play and I thought you should know that." 

"No, yeah, thanks, I really appreciate hearing that." 

Zach grins at him and Willy grins back and then he tugs his shirt over his head. He's not wearing anything underneath it and Zach gets a glimpse of soft tummy before he turns away. 

They both shower and get changed and then Zach says, “So hey do you wanna go grab something to eat? I don’t know about you but I’m fucking starving.” 

“I could definitely eat,” Willy says. 

“Okay awesome.” 

***

“So, can I tell you something?” Willy asks, later, while they’re eating. 

“Yeah, of course, what is it?” 

“I just feel like I kind of need to confess something. So, after you came out as bi I kind of hated you for a while. Which doesn’t make any sense at all because I didn’t even know you, but I don’t know…” 

“Why?” Zach asks when Willy trails off. He’s tensed now and ready to get up and walk out if he needs to. Willy hadn’t seemed homophobic before, but he’s worried now. 

“Because I’m gay. And that’s why I quit hockey. No one had ever come out before and I just thought there was no way I could either without losing my career. And I didn’t want to spend my entire career in the closet.” Willy frowns, pushing around the fries still on his plate. 

“Wow, I’m so sorry you had to make that decision,” he pauses for a moment wanting Willy to know he really does mean that. Then he says, “That’s one of the reasons I came out, you know? It was the most terrifying decision of my life, but I wanted to let little bi and gay boys dreaming of playing in the NHL know that they could. That someone like them had done it, you know?” 

Willy smiles then, and says, “Yeah, totally, and after I got over my resentment I really appreciated that.” His smile grows bigger and he says, “I have this cousin, he’s thirteen and bi and he plays hockey, and when you came out it meant the world to him. He has your jersey and talks about how you’re his favorite player all the time. Alex is super jealous, but he gets it.” 

Zach grins back at him, popping a fry into his mouth, and then he says, “Thanks for telling me about that. It’s always nice to hear. Does he live in Toronto?” 

Willy shakes his head. “Sweden, why?” 

“I was gonna say he should come to a game with you. I’d love to meet him.” 

“Dude,” Willy says, his eyes going wide. “If you’d meet him I’d fly him down. That would mean so much to him.” 

“When can you get him here?” 

“Probably in a couple of weeks. I’ll have to plan it with his mom.” 

“Okay,” Zach says, “Just text me when and I’ll get you both tickets.” 

“Thank you, so much, seriously. This is so kind of you,” Willy says, reaching out and grabbing Zach’s hand.

“It’s not a big deal,” Zach says, the tips of his ears burning red with the flush he knows must be visible both there and on his cheeks. 

Willy squeezes his hand, and grins at him, happy and wide, and then he lets go and goes back to eating. 

Zach takes a few moments to compose himself and then he does the same. 

***

He doesn’t hear anything about it for a few days, even though Willy and him are still texting daily, and he assumes it’s just because WIlly is still planning it. A suspicion that is confirmed when one night right as Zach is getting out of the shower Willy finally texts him: “My cousin is getting here on the 19th and staying until the 23rd.” 

Zach grins at his phone and types his reply, “Okay, awesome, I’ll get you guys tickets for our game on the 21st.” 

“Thank you so much. I really really appreciate this. My cousin is so excited.” 

The 21st is still a couple of weeks away, but Zach takes care of everything right away anyway to make sure it doesn’t fall apart. He buys some tickets, better ones than what he usually gets for friends since this kid is coming all the way from Sweden and leaves them at will call in Willy’s name. 

***

On the 19th as he’s getting ready to take a nap he gets a snapchat of Willy and a teenager who must be his cousin. The text over it says, “Just picked up Henry from the airport.” 

Zach sends a picture back of him smiling at the camera and holding his hand up in a wave and puts “Tell him I said hi,” over it. 

Willy sends him a text after that that says, “He’s literally dying over that snap. I don’t know how he’s going to survive actually meeting you.” 

Zach grins at his phone for a second and then puts it down and lays his head down. He wants to keep talking to Willy but he really does need to take a nap.

In the dressing room that night Zach breaks his own rule and looks at his phone. He usually doesn’t that close to game time in case he sees some trash talk about him or something else that might distract him during the game. He figures just checking his texts should be pretty safe though. 

He has a text from Willy and when he opens it it’s a picture of Willy and Henry. They’re both wearing jerseys with Zach’s number on them and smiling at the camera. The message attached says, “We’re watching the game on TV tonight. Good luck!” 

Zach sends back, “Isn’t Henry jet-lagged?” 

He gets a pretty much immediate response that says, “Shouldn’t you be getting dressed?” And then another text comes through that says, “He took a nap earlier specifically so he could wake back up and watch the game lmao” 

“Tell him I appreciate that. But I do have to finish getting ready now.” Zach sends back.

He waits for Willy’s response, which ends up being “Lycka till. (Henry wanted me to send you that. It’s good luck in Swedish.)” and then he puts away his phone. 

They win the game. It’s not even close. It’s a four to zero final score, and the Leafs were just faster and better the entire game. Outworking the Kings during every shift. 

Zach checks his phone again after the game and sees another text from Willy. “Great job tonight,” it says. And it’s so dumb and small and it probably shouldn’t make Zach smile for the rest of the night, but it does. 

***

During their next game, Zach plays as hard as he can, knowing Henry is in the crowd and not wanting to let him down, but nothing seems to be clicking for most of the team. His line is doing okay, but almost everyone else is just playing kind of sloppy. Their passes aren’t connecting like they should and they don’t seem to be skating hard enough either. 

Freddie is on top of his game though, and nearly bails them out. They don’t lose by as much as they should. It’s only a 3-1 victory for the Lightning and it should definitely be a lot worse, definitely would be if Freddie hadn’t made a few absolutely ridiculous saves on Kucherov. But they still lose, and Zach hates it. Feels the sting of it more sharply than usual with Henry in the stands. 

Zach speeds through a shower and through getting dressed and then heads back out to the arena to meet Willy and Henry. 

“Hey,” Zach says, once he finds them. They both hop out of their seats and Henry is smiling super wide, and bouncing from foot to foot. Zach grins back at him to hopefully ease his nerves a little and says. “I’m Zach. Sorry we couldn’t win for you.” 

He sticks out his hand and Henry shakes it eagerly. “I’m Henry, and it’s totally fine. Your line was awesome.” 

“Thanks.” Zach grins, and then says, “Oh, hey, so I brought you something,” and he hands over the stick he had brought out with him. 

“Are you serious?” Henry asks grinning from ear to ear. 

“Yeah, do you want me to sign it?” he asks. 

“Please,” Henry says, his eyes wide, as he looks between Zach and the stick. 

Zach pulls a sharpie out of his pocket and signs the stick and then says, “What about your jersey?” 

“Please,” Henry says, turning around. Zach signs in the number and then caps the sharpie and puts it back in his pocket. 

“God, this is so amazing,” Henry says. “None of my friends are going to believe me. Can I get a picture?” 

“Yeah, absolutely,” Zach says. Henry gets out his phone and taps the screen a few times and then hands it over to Willy. Zach and Henry stand side by side, their arms around each other’s backs, and Zach smiles widely as Willy takes a few pictures. 

“Thank you so much,” Henry says. 

“It’s no problem, really,” Zach says. “You wanna meet everyone else? I think most of them are probably still lingering.” 

“Uh, yes!” Henry says bouncing up and down.

Zach grins at him, and then they all head together towards the dressing room. When they enter Zach says, “Hey guys, this is Willy’s cousin, Henry.” 

Everyone looks over, but once again Auston and Mitch are the first ones to actually approach. 

“Hey Willy,” they both greet, giving him high fives. And then Mitch says, “And your name was Henry, right?

“Yeah,” Henry says. 

“Awesome, I’m Mitch, and this is Auston.” 

“I know,” Henry says, rolling his eyes. 

Willy nudges him, and says, “That was rude,” but everyone else just laughs. 

“No, it’s fine,” Auston says, and then, “Want me to sign your jersey?” 

“Please,” Henry says, and Zach hands over the sharpie. 

Auston signs and so does Mitch and then Henry makes his way around the rest of the dressing room. Introducing himself and getting autographs and some pictures. 

“We’re going to a bar to drown our miseries. You wanna come, Zach?” Mitch says after a while, when things are winding down. “Willy, you’re invited too.” 

“Since I have a thirteen year old with me I think I’m gonna skip out,” Willy says. 

“Me too,” Zach says. Then turning to Willy he says, “You guys wanna go grab some dinner?” 

“I think we’ve monopolized enough of your time,” Willy says. 

“I really don’t mind,” Zach says. 

“Well, if you’re sure.” 

“What’s up?” Henry asks, coming back to stand beside them. 

“Zach invited us out to dinner. You wanna go?” Willy asks. 

“Uh, duh!” Henry says. 

Willy reaches out and ruffles Henry’s hair, grinning fondly at him, and then says, “Okay, let’s go then.” 

***

Half an hour later, they’re seated around a table at Zach’s favorite restaurant in Toronto. It’s a low-key place. Small and family run and very warmly decorated. Zach actually doesn’t come here very often despite loving it because the food is so unhealthy, but it’s delicious, and he thought the relaxed atmosphere would be good for Henry. 

“So, you guys are working on a book together?” Henry asks, digging into his macaroni and cheese. 

“Yeah,” Zach says. 

“Cool, can I know what it’s about?” 

“Sure,” Zach says. “It’s about a hockey player. It’s not really supposed to be specifically about my story or anything but the main character in it is bi, and I did draw on my own experiences for it. I just kind of toned down some of the stuff I’ve faced to work better as a children’s book.” 

“Oh cool,” Henry says, and then he pauses and looks like he’s thinking about asking something else. Zach just waits patiently and eventually Henry says, “So, what’s it really like being bi in the NHL?” 

“Well, I won’t lie. It is hard sometimes. I get slurs directed at me on the ice and then those same players seem to hit me a little more and a little harder than they hit everyone else. And it’s never fun to see the ‘Zach Hyman is struggling. Is it because of his sexuality?’ articles. But I don’t know. I think I’m happier this way then I would be in the closet.” 

“Yeah?” Henry asks. 

“Yeah, I mean, obviously the homophobia sucks. And it’s really bad sometimes, especially in certain cities when the fans get into it too. But it’s also nice to be able to date whoever I want and not worry about it getting out. And it’s nice to hear young kids who aren’t straight say that they look up to me. And my teammates are great.” 

“All of them?” 

“Well, no, but even the ones that I know are homophobic bite their tongues because they’re afraid of backlash from everyone else. Especially from Auston and Mitch. They’ve been great. They were the first people on the team I told and they’ve been incredibly supportive. Mitch is everyone on the team’s favorite and he made it very clear that if anyone said anything homophobic to me he’d blackball them. And when I decided to go public, Auston told management that if they sent me down or got rid of me because of it he wouldn’t re-sign with them.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, I still can’t believe he did that. That was the thing I was most afraid of because I don’t have any delusions about my level of talent. I know I’m not as good as like Auston or Mitch or Naz and that I mostly got to where I am because of hard work and the fact I’m good at getting the puck back and getting it to people who can do more with it than I can. And so I felt, I don’t know, easily replaceable I guess. But with Auston, the great hope of Toronto and the fan favorite standing by me and saying he’d go if I went it felt safer.” 

“That’s awesome,” Henry says. “I hope I have teammates like that.” 

“I hope you do too,” Zach says. “And things are changing. Slowly, for sure, but they are. Things have even already gotten a little better in the brief time since I came out. So hopefully by the time you’re a little older it won’t even be an issue.” 

“Yeah, maybe,” Henry says. “So, are you dating anyone?” 

Willy nudges him, and says, “Oh my god, you’re so intrusive. You literally just met him like an hour ago.” 

Zach laughs though, and says, “It’s okay I don’t mind. And no, I’m single.” 

He takes a bite of his mashed potatoes while Henry nods, and then Zach says, “What about you? Do you have a special someone?” 

“There’s a girl I like, but we’re not dating,” Henry says. “I think maybe she likes me, but I don’t know.” 

“You should just ask her out,” Willy says. 

“You’re one to talk. You never ask out the guys you like,” Henry says. 

“Okay, rude,” Willy says. “I mean, true, but still.” 

Henry laughs, and sticks his tongue out at Willy who rolls his eyes in response. 

“So, are you not dating anyone either then, Willy?” Zach asks. 

“No, I’m not,” he says, looking up at Zach. His eye contact lingers, and Zach’s heart races, hoping he’s not reading the interaction wrong. 

He’s definitely not about to make a move in front of Henry regardless so he drags his eyes away from Willy’s after a moment and changes the subject.

***

He’s hanging out, and binge watching TV with Mitch and Auston the next afternoon when he gets a text from Willy, “Thanks again for last night. It really meant a lot to Henry. But also, hey, I have some sketches done of a few illustrations would you be interested in meeting up later this week to check them out?”

“Sounds good. I’m free the day after tomorrow. That work for you?” Zach sends back. 

“That’s perfect,” Willy replies. And then a second message says, “Around one good for you? At our usual spot?” 

“Sounds great,” Zach sends. When he looks up from his phone Mitch and Auston are smirking at him, and he doesn’t even say anything, just grabs a pillow off the couch and throws it at them. “You two are so annoying.” 

***

When he gets to the coffee shop a couple of minutes before one on the day they’re supposed to meet, Willy is already there. Sitting at one of the tables with a huge cup of coffee in front of him. He’s wearing a Rochester Amerks shirt, probably something he stole from his brother, judging by the fit. Willy glances over at him and Zach waves and then heads to the counter to order some coffee for himself. 

“Okay,” Willy says a few minutes later, when Zach sits down across from him. “I wanted to show you some sketches. So, okay, I printed them out, hold on a sec.” He digs around in the backpack by his feet and then pulls out a large manilla folder. 

“Okay,” he says, as he places it on the table. “So, please remember that these are rough and don’t be harsh, but I thought you might want to see how stuff is coming along.” 

“Yeah, definitely,” Zach says. “I’m excited.” 

Willy slides over the folder, looking nervous and Zach takes it eagerly. He opens it and flips through the sketches. The first one is a more polished version of the sketch Willy had shown him before. Of the main character scoring his first goal. He smiles, extremely pleased with how it’s coming along. “This is so great,” he says. The emotions of the scene are so clearly expressed, Zach can’t help but smile. It radiates the exact feelings of happiness, and pride and the sense of belonging he had imagined while writing the scene. 

He flips to the next sketch, which is of the main character in his room, laying alone in his bed. It’s from a scene where the character is debating whether or not he should continue to play. It’s an incredibly emotional scene in the book, pretty much as depressing as a scene in a children’s picture book ever gets, and the art expresses it so well.

The sense of loneliness and isolation the main character feels is perfectly encapsulated in the details of the scene. From the main character’s expression, to the position he’s laying in, to the emptiness of the space around him. 

And for the first time, Zach realizes how truly beneficial it is to him to have an artist who truly gets this story doing the art for it. He can’t believe how lucky he got with Willy. Zach had experienced this moment so many times in his life, and he knows Willy must have too. And looking at this picture brings the emotions of those moments right back. He’s afraid he might actually start crying if he lingers on it too much longer. So he says, “God, that’s just absolutely perfect,” and then he moves on. 

They continue like that for a while. Zach flipping to a new sketch and being absolutely stunned and overwhelmed by it. And complimenting it while Willy sits there grinning softly at him. He’s so taken by all of them that he doesn’t even notice how long it’s been until his phone vibrates with a text and he catches the time on it. 

“Shit,” he says. “I have to go. The team is going out in a little bit as like a team bonding thing and I’m going to be late. Thank you so much for showing me those though. They truly are amazing and I can’t wait to see the finished products.” 

He goes to get up, grinning apologetically at Willy for running out on him. But then Willy reaches out and grabs his arm and says, “Wait, okay, before you leave, I wanted to ask you something.” 

“Okay, yeah, what is it,” Zach says, settling back in his seat. 

“What you did for my cousin was so over the top and so nice and I just really want to thank you somehow. So, do you want to come over to my apartment for dinner sometime soon?” 

“You really don’t have to do anything. I don’t mind doing stuff like that,” Zach says. 

“I know,” Willy says. “Because you are the nicest person in the world. But I want to anyway.” 

“Okay,” Zach says. “If you really want to then yeah, I’d love to come over for dinner.” 

“Okay great.” 

***

Zach’s nervous when he knocks on the door of Willy’s apartment a couple of nights later. He had dressed up some. Wearing a nice button up shirt and black jeans, and taken extra time on his hair. And he’s afraid Willy will notice and think it’s weird. 

He hears movement a few seconds after he knocks and then the door is pulled open and Zach is relieved to notice Willy looks nice too. Well, he always looks nice, but he looks extra nice. He’s wearing a nice white sweater with jeans. And it definitely looks like he took extra care with his hair. 

“Hey,” Willy says. He leans in for a quick hug and Zach gets a whiff of the spicy scent of his cologne before he pulls away again. “Come in,” he says, stepping back to let Zach in. Zach steps inside pulling the door shut behind him, and looks around. 

He’s in the living room. It’s a big space, with two big comfortable looking couches and a couple of chairs. There are a couple of overflowing bookcases. As well as a large TV cabinet against the far wall. The walls are a plain off white, but they’ve got lots of art hanging on them. 

“Is the art your stuff?” Zach asks. 

“Some of it,” Willy replies, walking farther inside with Zach following behind him. “Some of it is by my mom though. And some of it is by friends or other artists I like.” 

“Cool,” Zach says. “I really like all of it. My walls are very plain. I’ve been meaning to spice them up a little, but I’ve been too busy to look for any art I like.” 

“I can suggest some artists you may like if you want to look into their stuff,” Willy says. 

“Yeah, that’d be great,” Zach says. “Thank you.” 

There’s a pause while they just smile at each other, and then Zach says, “So, what are we eating.” 

“I made spaghetti and a salad and some breadsticks. Does that sound okay?” 

“Sounds delicious,” Zach says, and now that Willy has said it, he can smell the garlic. 

“Well, it’s ready if you’re hungry,” Willy says. 

“Yeah, I could eat,” Zach says. “Besides I’m very excited to see if you’re as good of a cook as you are an artist.” 

Willy laughs and says, “According to my brother I definitely am not, but he’s just jealous.” 

“I’m sure,” Zach says, as Willy leads them into the kitchen.

The table is set with one plate at the end and another plate on the side of the table, so that they’ll be sitting close together. There’s a huge plate of spaghetti as well as some delicious looking sauce, a gigantic colorful salad, and a plate of breadsticks as well. 

“God, it actually looks delicious,” Zach says.

Willy pulls out a seat for him and Zach flushes as he sits down in it. Zach waits for Willy to sit down too, but then he motions for Zach to go ahead and serve himself so he does, taking some of everything. 

“So,” Zach says, “Did Henry enjoy the rest of his trip?” 

“Yes, but he hasn’t shut up about you since. He’d kill me for telling you this, but I think he has a crush.” 

Zach flushes and rolls his eyes. “You think everyone has a crush on me.” 

“Yeah, that’s because as I’ve said before: you’re hot,” Willy says. 

“Okay, I don’t think you’ve ever said that before,” Zach replies, avoiding Willy’s eye and taking a sip of water. 

“Hmm, maybe not to your face,” Willy says. 

“Oh, so you’re talking about me behind my back?” Zach asks. 

“With Mitch and Aus, yeah. Only good things though, I swear. They were telling me that pretty much everyone they know who likes guys has had a crush on you at some point.” 

Zach shakes his head and spears some salad onto his fork. “They did not say that,” he says. 

“They definitely did,” Willy says. “And I definitely believe it.” 

Zach looks over at him, and Willy is smiling, soft and open, but a little fearful. Like he thinks there’s a chance Zach is going to take off running. And there’s definitely no chance of that. Zach smiles back at him, and flushes harder, his entire face burning red. 

“Thanks,” he says, and then he clears his throat and changes the subject. 

***

“Let me help you with the dishes,” Zach says, later, when they’re done eating. 

“No, no, this dinner was to thank you. What would be the point if you helped with part of it?” 

“You’re so dramatic,” Zach says, rolling his eyes. “And besides I’ll be bored just sitting here watching you.”

Willy fake gasps and says, “But I’m so nice to look at. Besides you can just leave if you want. I’m not holding you hostage.” 

“Do you want me to leave?” Zach asks. 

“Well, no,” Willy says. 

“Cool, then let me help.” 

“Fine,” Willy relents. He grins at Zach then and turns the water on in the sink and adds some soap as it fills up. He picks up a sponge and scrubs a plate and then hands it over to Zach who places it in the drying rack. 

“Okay,” Zach says, my part is way too easy and we’re definitely switching eventually. 

Willy laughs and picks up a knife and runs the sponge over it. He’s quick and messy about it seeming not to care about the fact he could very easily slice his hand open. “Oh my god,” Zach says. “Be careful.” 

Willy gives him a shifty look out of the corner of his eye and says, “Relax, I’m not gonna get hurt.” 

“I don’t know if you know this or not, but knives are sharp,” Zach says, bumping his hip against Willy’s. 

“Oh my god, really? You’re so smart. Did they teach you that in college?”

Zach rolls his eyes and says, “Okay, but don’t come crying to me when you slice your hand open.” 

Willy giggles, this stupidly loud one he does sometimes that sounds like he’s choking, and Zach sighs, long sufferingly. 

Willy picks up another knife and turns toward Zach. He waves them both around in his hands, looking at Zach with wide eyes, and saying “Ooooh, you better watch out.” 

“You’re such a dumbass,” Zach says. 

“Yeah, but you think it’s cute,” Willy says, starting to juggle the knives. 

Zach doesn’t dignify that with an answer, just laughs and says, “Seriously, stop being stupid with the knives. You really are going to hurt yourself and then how will you draw?” 

Willy laughs even harder and says, “Oh, so this is totally selfish concern? You just want to make sure I can keep drawing for you, huh?” But he does drop the knives back into the sink. 

“You caught me,” Zach says. He takes a step closer now that Willy isn’t being a moron and says, “Besides, I wouldn’t want you to cut up that pretty face. We gotta keep you looking good for your illustrator portrait.”

Willy grins at him, looking sneaky and totally smug and after a pause he says, “So, am I reading this all wrong or can I finally kiss you like I’ve been dying to since the first time we met?” 

“Oh my god,” Zach says, leaning close to him, and reveling in the way Willy’s breath catches. “Please do.” 

Willy dips his head forward and their lips come together softly. It stays like that for a few seconds, and then Willy pulls back. He brushes their noses together as he goes and then leans his forehead against Zach’s. And that’s nice, and Zach appreciates the romance in it, but he’s waited long enough for this so he leans back in, kissing Willy again. It’s deeper this time, and harder, and a little more desperate. Willy makes a wonderful sound against his mouth and Zach grins against his lips. 

He puts his hands on Willy’s waist and when Willy doesn’t object to that he runs them down a little lower, and then lifts Willy up, sitting him back down on the counter. He runs his hands up Willy's thighs, stepping forward as he does it so that his waist is between Willy's legs.

“Oh. Holy shit,” Willy slurs against his lips, before wrapping his legs around him and kissing him harder. “That was so fucking hot.” 

Zach pulls off to laugh at that, but Willy doesn’t let him go very far, tangling his hands in Zach’s hair, and keeping him close. 

“Shut up, no one’s ever literally lifted me off my feet mid make out before. Forgive my surprise and my candor,” he says, before pulling Zach in for yet another kiss. 

And Zach goes easily, as he suspects he always will for Willy.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on twitter [@overturnedgoal](http://twitter.com/overturnedgoal).


End file.
